Tag: Herb Dean

video review : Misha Cirkunov versus Johnny Walker at UFC 235

video review : Misha Cirkunov versus Johnny Walker at UFC 235

Johnny Walker looks like a peak Anderson Silva in this UFC 235 fight, which isn’t much of a fight. Misha Cirkunov throws a left hook out of range, then a left kick. Walker returns with multiple fakes, then boom; a flying knee to the chin. Fight’s over.

What’s unusual about this bout is what happens immediately after. Walker does a miltary salute, presumably to himself, purposely falls facedown on the floor, attempts to do one of his signature dance moves and injures himself in the process.

my rating : 3 of 5

2019

video review : Anderson Silva versus Chris Weidman at UFC 162

video review : Anderson Silva versus Chris Weidman at UFC 162

As an Anderson Silva fan; he’s my favorite UFC fighter; the end of this bout is hard to watch, but he sort of brings it on himself. While I disagree with Joe Rogan’s hindsighted claim that “you can’t play games in The Octagon”; Silva’s antics have been successful until this point; The Spider simply goes too far here.

It’s a carryover from his last fight at UFC 153 in which he stood against the cage and let Stephan Bonnar punch him seemingly just to entertain the crowd, but Chris Weidman, led by head coach Ray Longo, isn’t having it. “Punch a hole in his fucking chest,” Longo commands. Weidman aims for the jaw instead.

my rating : 4 of 5

2013

video review : Chris Weidman versus Anderson Silva at UFC 168

video review : Khabib Nurmagomedov versus Conor McGregor at UFC 229

video review : Khabib Nurmagomedov versus Conor McGregor at UFC 229

The most interesting part of this fight is what happens at the end. After beating Conor McGregor via a Round 4 neck crank submission, Khabib Nurmagomedov hops the Octagon fence and jumps into the crowd to attack Conor’s crew. Joe Rogan calls it stupid and unnecessary. I call it badass.

He could’ve caused a riot; the crowd has McGregor’s back in the figurative sense; but his antics provide this UFC bout with the kind of over the top entertainment you normally get in WWE, full with members of his crew invading The Octagon to attack an already beaten McGregor.

The fight itself, though nearly overshadowed, provides some excitement of its own when the action isn’t being restrained on the mat with Conor, who’s greatly outmatched when it comes to wrestling. Nurmagomedov also scores a surprise knockdown with a punch to the face.

my rating : 4 of 5

2018

video review : Dustin Poirier versus Justin Gaethje at UFC Fight Night

video review : Dustin Poirier versus Justin Gaethje at UFC Fight Night

Head punches versus leg kicks; that’s the story here. It’s Justin who almost cripples Dustin while taking repeated, albeit partially blocked, shots to the face. It’s standup action; the fight goes to the ground for just a second; that pauses only when a fighter gets poked in the eye.

Justin Gaethje gets a stern warning from Herb Dean the first time he does it. He gets a point taken away the second time. Dustin Poirier then gets a poke in of his own before going on to win via TKO in what has to be one of the most enthralling fights in each of their careers.

my rating : 4 of 5

2018

video review : UFC 241

video review : UFC 241

Before UFC fans can get over the shock of Mike Beltran’s missing mustache, Ian Heinisch kicks Derek Brunson in the head. Dominick Cruz thinks it’s an instant knockout; you can hear the crack when it lands; but Brunson, fighting smart for a change, goes on to win via decision.

Decisions also go to Paulo Costa over Yoel Romero and Nate Diaz over Anthony Pettis. The former is the best fight; their muscles are impressive and their power is extraordinary; though it’s the latter, specifically Diaz’s return after a three-year hiatus, that was most anticipated.

Stipe Miocic puts on a surprisingly lackluster performance against Daniel Cormier in their Heavyweight Championship title bout; a rematch from UFC 226. He gets punched in the face repeatedly until he finds DC’s weak spot; the liver area Anderson Silva once exploited; and knocks him out.

my rating : 4 of 5

2019

video review : Conor McGregor versus Nate Diaz at UFC 196

video review : Conor McGregor versus Nate Diaz at UFC 196

“There is one thing we also should consider and that is the wrestling of Nate Diaz,” Joe Rogan says after a brief exchange about stances, “His submission game is very very highly respected.” The “very/very/highly” bit makes it a ridiculous overstatement, but, as Diaz goes on to prove, the gist is correct.

Conor McGregor has the advantage on the feet; his movement and striking is on a higher level; but Diaz lands a hard punch in the second round, which flips the momentum of the fight. McGregor eventually goes in for a desperate takedown and ends up getting caught in a guillotine choke.

my rating : 4 of 5

2016

video review : Nate Diaz versus Conor McGregor at UFC 202

video review : Germaine De Randamie versus Aspen Ladd at UFC Fight Night

video review : Germaine De Randamie versus Aspen Ladd at UFC Fight Night

I don’t know what Herb Dean was thinking here. He stops the fight after Ladd goes down from a fist to the face; the first strike of the fight; but she wasn’t out. She seemed stunned; a bit slow to reset; but she was still in the fight.

“Aspen Ladd can’t believe the fight was stopped,” Brendan Fitzgerald declares and who could blame her. It’s her first official loss and probably a loss that will forever remain in quotation marks. This isn’t right, but it is what it is.

my rating : 3 of 5

2019

video review : Jared Cannonier versus Anderson Silva at UFC 237

video review : Jared Cannonier versus Anderson Silva at UFC 237

Anderson Silva’s UFC 234 bout against Israel Adesanya almost ended like this. The Stylebender landed a kick to the knee of The Spider’s lead (right) leg early in the third round that buckled him, but he recovered. Jared Cannonier must’ve studied that fight. Here he kicks Silva’s same leg until it gives.

It’s an odd and anticlimactic ending to a fight it seems was just getting started. Anderson Silva goes down near the end of the “very” first round; a point at which Jared Cannonier’s speed and strength advantage has him at a slight edge, though Silva manages to land some impressive kicks of his own.

The man is 44 years old and looks good for that age, but these losses are adding up, which only tarnishes his legacy as arguably the best UFC fighter ever. If he’d retired after his first loss to Chris Weidman, which is what I said he should’ve done at the time, there wouldn’t be much to argue about.

Instead he went for a rematch and got his leg broken. That loss is eerily similar to this one, which takes us back to the question of the end. BJ Penn, who Silva once praised as one of the best ever, earned his seventh straight loss at this same 237 event. The way Silva’s career is going isn’t much better.

my rating : 3 of 5

2019

video review : Anderson Silva versus Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night

video review : Anderson Silva versus Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night

There are two strikes that should’ve knocked Michael Bisping clean out in this fight. One, a flying knee to the nose, comes at the end of the third round when Silva takes advantage of Bisping foolishly distracting himself over a missing mouthguard. The second comes in the fifth when Silva, backed against the fence, lands the same front kick to the face he knocked Vitor Belfort out with. The fact that Bisping regains composure and continues to pressure his opponent after taking such damage, albeit looking a bloody mess, is a testament to his toughness.

That resilience is ultimately what wins him the bout. That and Silva’s frustrating fighting style, which has him playing “fun games” or standing idle when he should be in attack mode. The former champion seems to overwhelm Bisping whenever he pushes forward, but he doesn’t do so often enough. The beginning of Round 4 is particularly confusing as that’s probably the best chance he has to finish Bisping, still hurt from the jumping knee. Perhaps Silva was fatigued from celebrating his false victory. Whatever the case, I agree with the judges decision.

my rating : 4 of 5

2016